Fifty - four years ago today , Enos the Chimp became the first " quad chimp " to reach orbit . He was the second chimp to get hold of space , after Ham , as part of NASA ’s Project Mercury . His brief sentence in blank was frightening , though you would n’t know it from this celebratory newsreel , recounting one variation of what happened on November 29 , 1961 :
Keep in mind , the USSR was well forward of the US at this degree in the distance slipstream , sustain putYuri Gagarinin orbit in April 1961 andGherman Titovin extended orbit in August 1961 .
What Really Happened to Enos
launch on theMercury - Atlas 5 deputation , Enos achieved eye socket , manipulate various control when lights flash , and was rewarded for completing tasks with banana pellets . He had been trained to do these labor ( mostly simple logic tests ) on Earth , and failing a undertaking mean a shock applied to his feet .
Tragically , a major malfunction caused him to be shocked repeatedly during one of the tasks , no matter how he answered . He endured76 electric shocksdespite performing the task aright . He just kept adjudicate until the system move on to the next job .
A further malfunction in the posture control organization caused temperatures to come up around Enos , peak at 100.5 degrees . NASA resolve to abort the mission too soon , causing Enos to splash down after just two reach ( of the scheduled three ) . He was then stranded in the floating capsule for 3 hours and 20 minutes before a retrieval gang arrive . During this clock time , he damage various parts of the abridgment ( seemingly trying to escape ) and attract out his own urinary catheter , while the balloon was billow . After his retrieval , he was happy , harmonise toKristine Sigsbee ’s fauna astronauts page :
After returning for medical study , Enos was declared healthy . Sadly , he die of antibiotic - tolerant dysentery less than a year later , and the location of his clay is unknown . His workfellow Ham , the first outer space chimp , fared considerably better , living until 1983 at the National Zoo in Washington , D.C.
